Artificial eyelash



June 3, F B pH 2,421,432

' ARTIFICIAL EYELASH Filed Oct. 5, 1944 an .5 5 W 1/ 1/ '6 I N YEN TOR;

Patented June 3, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

My invention relates to artificial eyelashes and to a novel method ofmaking the same.

An object of my invention is to provide a novel artificial eyelashwherein. the ends of the eyelash hairs are fixed in a predetermined andexact manner to a novel base in which the endsv of the hairs areembedded and from which the eyelash hairs protrude or extend.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel artificial eyelashhaving a novel base composed. of a synthetic resin, resinous, resinlikeor plastic substance, which is extremely small and inconspicuous, butwhich will firmly hold the hairs comprising, the eyelash.

A further object isto provide a novel artificial eyelash. having a. basemember of suitable characteristics that the same may be tinted to blendthe edge of the natural eyelid, or make-up, or make-up linings appliedto the eyelid,. or be transparent: to show the natural skintherethrough.

A further object is to: provide a. novel artificial eyelash which. when.applied toa person is. natural irr appearance, and. which easilyconforms to, and adheres'to, the: natural eyelid, and which offers a.minimum. of discomfort to the wearer.

A still further object is to provide a novel artificial: eyelash inwhich the hairs thereof have a. predetermined: curl and spacing, andwhich need no. retouching, and. that can be easily and quickly appliedby: the wearer and adapted with a minimum of shaping to conform the sameto the features of the wearer;

A still; further object of my invention is to provide. a. novel base forartificial eyelashes that will: adhere firmly to: the. hairs forming theeyelash. with a. minimum amount. of actual contact area therewith, andwhich will have. alcohol and aliphatic hydrocarbon resistance as well aspoor light reflective power, also. which. has sufiicient stiffness. forease of application. and yet is flexible enough at body temperatures.to. be comfortable: tothe: wearer.

A still. further: object. of my invention is to provide a. novelartificial eyelash. base that is composed." of syntheticv or chemical:constituents that will not: set up. a condition of: some form ofdermititis.

A. feature;- of: my invention, is in the provision ofa: novel artificialeyelash that has a novel base member which may beassociated: with hairsthat extend therefrom to-form the lashes, and which hairs; as used: in.this specification may include either human, animal, fibre, vegetable,seaweed,

plant (either natural, resin, resinous, or resinlike 5 2 materials)casein or synthetic resin, resinous or resin-like materials.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from theaccompanying. drawing, the subjoined detail description and the appendedclaims.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the invention in some of the formsI at present deem. preferable.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a mold employed in my method of making anovel artificial eyelash, the mold being broken away at .its midportionto show the strands of hair and associated base member.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view of the mold, taken online 2-2, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a portion of thecompleted strip of artificial eyelashes made in the mold shown in Fig;1*.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic end view of an artificial eyelash and the basemembers, as they appear in the mold and. before fusing.

Fig. 5- is a. diagrammatic end View similarito' Fig. 4, but showing thebase members after fusing them together around the eyelash hair.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic end view, analogous to Fig. 4, but showing amodified structure for the base member.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic end view' similar to Fig. 5, but showing theparts illustrated in, Fig. 6 after fusing.

Fig. 8'is an end View, on greatly enlarged scale, of a completedartificial eyelash embodying the elements shown in Figs. 4 and 5'.

Fig. 9 is an end view, on greatly enlarged scale, of a completedartificial eyelash embodying the elements shown in Figs. 6 and '7.

In the drawing, I have illustrated a simple form of mold that may beused to form my novel artificial eyelash, and have also illustrated onenlarged scale, and more or less diagrammatically, the components makingthe various forms of artificial eyelashes shown.

The completed eyelash, designated generally by the numeral I, and bestshown in Figs. 8 and 9,.

comprises a plurality of eyelash hairs 2 of proper length, and whichextend, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, substantially in parallelism witheach other; and have along one side of the endsthereof, a base member 3which is fused thereto to make a homogeneous mass. maybe of a syntheticresin, resinous, or resinlike plastic base which when subjected to heatwill fuse around the strands of hair forming the lashes 2 so astosecurely hold them inassembled The base member 3- 3 position but whichwill not be affected by the natural heat or warmth of body of the personusing the completed eyelash.

The base member 3 as herein referred to may be designated as a plasticbase member for want of a more technical term to identify the same.

In carrying out my invention, I form a plastic base member 3 of anysynthetic resin havin the requisite properties; namely, an ability to bemolded in a temperature range that will not damage hair, non-toxic innature, capable of being dyed either initially or subsequently to thedesired color or tint, or to be transparent, sufficiently limp orflexible to conform readily to the eyelid, capable of being adhered toan eyelid by use of an adhesive that will not, be injurious to thewearer, that will have alcohol and aliphatic hydrocarbon resistance, aswell as poor light reflective power, and have sufficient stiffness forease of application and yet be flexible enough at body temperatures tobe comfortable to the wearer, and which will not set; up a condition ofsome form of dermititis.

A particularly satisfactory plastic for the base member 3 has beenproduced from the following formula, to-wit:

Toluol, to make 1 gal. of compound Coloring-Q. S., such as: certifiedcosmetic color (precipitated on aluminum base-lakes). Natural earthcolors: all of any desired shade or tint.

Acryloid, is understood to be a 30% solution of a polymerized acryliccompound in ethylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate.

"Rezyl #53, is understood to be a balsam type, non oxydizing, phthalatealkyl resin.

Sipalin Aom, is understood to be dimethyl eyelohexyl ester of adipieacid.

Dioxan, is understood to be 1 4, diethylene oxide.

The foregoing materials for the plastic base member, are preferablycompounded as follows:

1. The Dioxan and methyl isobutyl ketone are mixed together.

.2. Then the acetate and vinyl chloride are dissolved in the resultingsolution,

3. Then the Acryloid and Rezyl are added,

4. Then the diatomaceous earth and coloring are ground into the foregoinresultant mixture.

5. Then the toluol is added.

The resultant mixture may then have the solvents therein extracted, andmay then be extruded through suitable dies to form threads or strands 4that are fused together as will more fully be hereinafter explained inconnection with the type of artificial eyelash shown in Figs. 4, 5 and8.

The foregoing mixture for the plastic base member without the solventstherein extracted may be used to form the type of base member shown inFigs. 6, 7 and 9, wherein a base thread, preferably a hair, thread orthread-like structure, such as a fine natural silk thread or what iscommercially known as nylon is sprayed with such mixture to form aprotective coating therearound and to enable the resultant article to besecured to the strands forming the lashes and if used for the lashes tobe curled and retain its set.

Such natural silk or nylon thread 5 is preferably strung on a framework(not shown) to form parallel strands that may be sprayed with themixture from both sides of the framework so as to build up a coating 6therearound as shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 9. The threads are sprayed orcoated several times, sometimes as many as six or eight times in orderto build up the thread to the desired diameter. Each coating is dried byplacing the framework in an oven before the next coating is applied, andit has been found that five or ten minutes for drying is sufficient. Thethread first used before spraying is preferably about .002" in thicknessand after spraying is preferably .015" in thickness.

In making an artificial eyelash as shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 8 Iarrange a plurality of strands of hair I! parallel with each other asshown in Fig. 1 and arrange them between molding blocks II and [2. Themold H is provided with a longitudinal channel I3, and the mold I2 isprovided with a complementary rib M. The curvature of the channel [3 andrib I4 is such as to conform to the curvature desired to be given to thelashes when completed.

Each mold block is provided along the confronting faces thereof andadjacent the channel and rib thereof with a groove l5, l5 that are injuxtaposition with each other when the mold blocks are in cooperativerelation with each other, and accommodate or receive the base members 3which are placed therein before clamping the molds together with thehair strands I"! extending between such molds II and [2. Suitable guideand securing clips l6 are provided along the sides and ends of the moldblocks so that they may be readily fitted and secured together.

Before the base members 3 are placed in the grooves l5, Hi the groovesare preferably coated with a 5% solution of aluminum stearate that iscut with toluol so as to form a mold lubricant to permit free removal ofthe base members after the eyelashes have been formed, and the same alsoacts as an adhesive to retain the base members in place when the moldsare positioned in mold closing cooperation with each other.

The molds with the base members positioned in the grooves l5, l5 and thehair strands extending across the same are then placed in an oven untilthe molds are heated to about 300 degrees F. This requires from five toten minutes in an oven previously heated to 500 degrees F. The molds arepreferably set on asbestos or other insulating material to preventcontact with metal which would have the effect of unevenly distributingthe heat to the molds.

Upon heating the molds as aforesaid, the base members 3 will fusetogether around the ends and over the strands forming the lashes, andthe lashes will have imparted thereto a set of curl simulating naturaleyelashes. The molds are then separated and the lashes trimmed and thebase members out to the desired length.

If desired the eyelashes may be made having a base member of the typeshown in Figs. 6, '7 and 9; and the lashes may be made of the same basemembers as shown in Fig. 9.

Although I have illustrated my invention as being made with a singlemold as shown, it will be apparent that several molds may be used, thatis they are placed side by side along the length of the hair strands l1,so that a single strand of hair may extend across several molds. Afterthe molds are heated as aforesaid the strands of hair are cut betweenthe molds, and this is facilitated by undercutting or forming obtuseV-shaped recesses l8 and I9 along the sides of the mold blocks and withtheir apexes along the mold faces in close proximity to the grooves l5,I On one side and to the longitudinal edge of the channel l3 and rib Mon the other side.

After the lash has been formed and trimmed to the desired length alongthe base member and the individual lashes have been cut to the desiredshape the artificial eyelash may be secured to the eyelid of a personwith a liquid adhesive or latex, or a spirit gum soluble in alcoholwhich may be used to remove the artificial eyelash from the wearerseyelid.

I claim:

1. The method of making artificial eyelashes comprising arranging aplurality of hair-like strands in substantial parallelism with eachother; then coating a thread-like structure with a plastic material ofdissimilar characteristics than said thread-like structure and arrangingthe same transversely to said thread-like strands; and then fusing saidplastic material into a homogeneous mass and curving said hair-likestructures.

2. An artificial eyelash comprising a base member and bein suificientlyflexible to readily conform to the natural eyelid and capable of beingadhered thereto by an adhesive; and thread like structures extendingfrom said base member in substantial parallelism with each other; aprotective coating around each thread-like structure; and saidprotective coating and base member being fused to each other.

3. An artificial eyelash comprising a base member composed of athread-like synthetic resinous fusible material; and a plurality ofthread-like members extending from and having one end embedded in saidbase member and having a curvature to simulate natural eyelashes; and aprotective coating around each thread-like member.

4. An artificial eyelash comprising a base member composed of asynthetic resinous fusible material; a plurality of thread-like membersextending from and having one end embedded in said base member andhaving a curvature to simulate natural eyelashes; and a protectivecoating around each thread-like member, said base member and protectivecoating being fused to each other.

FESTUS B. PHILLIPS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,294,480 Rohweder et al Sept. 1,1942 1,897,747 Birk Feb. 14, 1933 2,079,256 Kaiser May 4, 1937 1,199,144Zak Sept. 26, 1916 1,450,259 Nessler Apr. 3, 1923

